In the wake of the coronavirus crisis, the stock market has recovered to pre-pandemic levels for various reasons, but institutional investors shouldn’t be overly optimistic and must keep risks top of mind, said Campbell Harvey, a professor of finance at Duke University, when speaking at the Canadian Investment Review’s 2020 Global Investment Conference in September. […]
The potential size and scope of future federal spending bills to bolster the economy, especially an infrastructure measure, would have important implications for the industrials sector. After passing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, President Donald Trump issued an infrastructure agenda that never resulted in legislation. Should he win re-election, Trump could push for a […]
Canada’s headline inflation measure went up in September by 0.5 per cent compared with a year ago, a better-than-expected increase, but one that experts say won’t sway the Bank of Canada’s stimulus measures. Economists had, on average, expected a year-over-year increase of 0.4 per cent, according to financial data firm Refinitiv, following readings of 0.1 […]
The head of the European Central Bank says the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic “risks losing momentum” due to a second wave of infections and that more stimulus could be added if necessary. “The second wave of the pandemic in Europe, notably in France, and the resulting new restrictions are adding to the uncertainty […]
Annual inflation in the 19-country eurozone sagged further below zero in September, bolstering expectations that the European Central Bank will add to its emergency stimulus efforts to help cushion the impact of the pandemic on the economy. The consumer price index was down 0.3 per cent in September, even lower than the minus 0.2 per […]
Since the mid-1970s, gold prices have increased in periods when investors were concerned about future inflation. Currently, gold prices are near highs comparable to January 1980, when concerns about stagflation were prevalent, and to August 2011, during widespread concerns about the impacts of quantitative easing. A new paper by Claude Erb, a retired managing director […]
Retirement income can be sliced into three broad categories: what an individual receives from their employer, what they receive from the government and everything else. While plan sponsors are naturally most concerned with what they provide for plan members, including all forms of income in the conversation is integral to properly planning for retirement, says […]
The Federal Reserve expects to keep its benchmark interest rate pegged near zero at least through 2023 as it strives to accelerate economic growth and drive down the unemployment rate. The central bank also said Wednesday that it will seek to push inflation above two per cent annually. The Fed left its benchmark short-term rate […]
The Bank of Canada sought Wednesday to temper economic excitement about a sharper-than-expected rebound from the depths of the coronavirus crisis, pointing to worrying trends that signal all is still not well. In a statement, the central bank’s governing council said the bounce-back activity in the third quarter looks to be faster than it anticipated […]
While massive monetary policy response didn’t drive inflation following the 2008/09 financial crisis, institutional investors are mulling over whether things may be different this time. The global economy has rarely seen such a swift willingness to engage with economic calamity on both monetary and fiscal levels, says Erik Weisman, chief economist and fixed income portfolio […]